The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating oedema of members by the process of compressing the member to be treated by immersion in a liquid of very high density.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,396 discloses an apparatus comprising a vertical cylindrical vessel containing a flexible tubular bag closed at one end and fixed by the periphery of its open opposed end to the periphery of the upper part of the vessel.
The member to be treated is introduced in the flexible bag and mercury is introduced in the vessel at the lower end of the latter while a gas under pressure is introduced in the upper part of the vessel above the mercury, the latter thus exerting a controlled pressure in a perpendicular direction and uniformly on the whole of the surface of the member, this pressure being higher in the lower part of the vessel and decreasing upwardly of the latter.
This process and apparatus developed from the works of Dr. CARTIER have been found to be extremely effective in the treatment of oedema of the upper and lower members of the body.
The apparatus arranged in this way is too costly to result in the development that it deserves owing to the large amount of mercury necessary and the high cost of the latter in each apparatus.
Indeed, the sizes of the members to be treated vary from one individual to the other and in order to be able to use a single apparatus for patients of all sizes the vessel must be given the largest possible dimensions, i.e. a diameter on the order of 250 to 300 mm and a height of 1.20 meter corresponding to the maximum length of a leg.
Consequently, a very large volume of mercury becomes necessary and the price of the apparatus becomes practically prohibitive.